edit: Pointed out by SplitSentro-there's a typo at 9:28, it's supposed to say 80% stun duration. Plus, SSG and Leadburster's DoTs tick twice on application due to the "TriggerTwiceOnPush" flag they both have, and BoomerangSnareLesser only actually ignores electric resists that are under 75%(so, not huuli hoarders or curled up rollers). That bit at 1:21 where I mention in text that the instant DoT tick doesn't (normally, Inferno is one exception that I know of)actually increase the total number of DoT ticks is something I actually only realized just recently-it'd make sense if getting 1 tick instantly meant you had time to get 1 more than expected, but it doesn't actually work that way. (Which I guess means that if it wasn't for the instant tick, DoTs would actually get 1 less tick than expected based on the duration/tickrate.) So some mentions of the total amount of damage DoT effects do in previous videos are very slightly incorrect... the worst kind of incorrect. Also, shoutouts to Banagement for educating me on why larva enemies have base damage of 5 on their bite-I thought they might be erroneously be using values from the AoE attack, but as it turns out they don't have a damage amount set, which means they use the default value, which is 5. As a result, you won't find a specified value for their bite damage in their files. Other drg test/info videos: ru-vid.com/group/PLqTo6tQ9tCOrABARyls3C94qzGo6TW3h_
I rarely leave a comment on any youtubers channel, But I really like and appreciate your DRG content, you hit a corner of the game that other mainstream DRG youtubers miss. Good job and I look forward to any DRG content you have to offer.
The ability of shredders and boomerangs to relieve pressure with a single unaimed button press makes them invaluable IMO. They're at their best when you need them most.
for me at least if i have bugs in my face and im up against a wall as scout cryo grenade is an instant stop this wave button, while boomerang has the delay of having to bounce from one bug to another.
One thing that I find interesting about the Stun-Sweeper is that there’s a hard limit to how much you can do. Most grenades require clumped-up enemies but can hit all of them, while the Stun-Sweeper has a large range but can only hit nine enemies.
I saved so many dwarves thanks to the speed, range and autoaim of the Stun Sweeper, I love it. it's a great grenade in the hands of a good team player, fits Scout very well!
Ya dont need to kite anymore with these, something any class normally does automatically but scout needs to hold his ground in order to assemble a crowd. So now i can zip around freely, 9/10.
I still prefer me some good proxy mines ;D It's just so much damage, and with repellant plats, you can sue them away front be team and still get good use from them :D
Something to note about the ripper: it doesn't turn. At all. Treat the ripper's path like a straight line drawn from your viewpoint, as opposed to the terrain. It doesn't care what the shape or curves if the terrain are, it will always loop back around to it's same spot assuming it can make it. To put it another way: it's like a latitude line on a globe. Technically that is a curved line, but it "looks" straight. The ripper's path is the same way: it looks straight forward from your view but it's technically twisting and turning across the actual surfaces. I don't think this helps it be particularly useful, but it's worth mentioning that you can basically line up a perfect strike on approaching grunts and slashers if you can aim it.
It guarantees that, given enough time, it will come back and hit you if you stay still. The smaller the cavern, the less time you have to get out of the way. Which is annoying when it's most effective in small caves.
@@LtPulsar I have a clip of when a driller yeets a ripper off into the distance, and 5 seconds later it comes back and bites the scout in the ass while he isnt looking. That shit will never not be funny 😂
also to note with Leadbursters: dont take them or be VERY weary of using them in elimination missions, as they have a tendency to pop dreadnought eggs from the other side of the damn room, even in massive caves.
Cant lie, ive been using the Boomerang a lot as a scout in Haz 5 and its helped me so much more than cryo nades and ifg's have. Of course depending on the mission the others can arguably be a better pick, but the boomerang has helped served as a good get out of jail free card for me and it also works as a good offensive tool for my playstyle when targeting bigger enemies. Its become one of my favorite nades in the game
The reason for this is because boomerangs absolutely lock down mactera, which in my experience are some of the deadliest killers on haz 5. The grunts, praetorians, and slower kilers you can strafe easily with sprint or experience. Mactera though. Oh man 4 hits and you're begging for red sugar.
I'd personally make the rippers melee damage, since that would not only alleviate the extremely low damage on large targets (outside of perfect environment ofc) but would also make them a fun cryo vampire combo.
I'm sure they didn't make them deal melee damage specifically to avoid a scenario like this. Imagine getting most of your health back just with one well-placed ripper, all while you can focus on something else.
@@MoustachioFurioso83 With how overpowered the Axes already are, it wouldn't be that big of an issue. Give them a diminishing returns on health from vampire. The Ripper is already pretty terrible with how unreliable it is with cave complexity dependency being a thing with it, alongside the friendly fire, and immense planning to even throw one. The fact a grenade has been known to single handedly cause wipes because of accidental cocoon openings isn't really a good sign. I also just don't really see it's purpose, much like the other Driller nades...? Axe covers a great driller weakness in single target, and Rippers just feel 'fun' to use until you eviscerate yourself with one, since deploying it during a swarm now creates a liability and hazard that you now have to play around. Give them something unique (Vampire usage) or some sort of reason to be used with what costs you have with using it. No grenade should have that 'high' of a skill ceiling, when the payout is mediocre at best.
@@arbiter771 I don't disagree on the Ripper being too demanding for what it offers, but I still think its shortcomings don't warrant turning it into a gimmicky Vampire synergy, and a potentially broken one at that. Surely there are other ways to make it more fun and reliable.
@@MoustachioFurioso83 I agree but i was just providing an example to make it more worth choosing. A lot of grenades in this game are just...terrible. Balanced around niche usages or just hilariously outclassed. Driller's HE, Scout's Pheromones (useful, but crossbow can just do it, and save you that nade slot a lot of the time), Engi's proxy Mines, Gunner's Sticky Grenades, All of them aren't "bad" per se, but just better options exist or they just have super niche roles to fill, and a superior option exists. (Axes, Plasma Burst, Incin, Cryo, etc)
Shredder grenades will also hover around the person that was closest to its activation spot. So you can throw them at a teammates feet and they will hover around them instead
Thank you for your work I play DRG fairly often and I learned a lot from your investigative research and testing. And I know that this whole video took more time to make than any of us could guess. Thanks for blessing Dwarf nerds with this info! Also your timing with the grapple ripper race was cool as hell lol
I think the ripper has its place as a bunkie driller, as well as small room weirdness, but is a bit handicapped by the explosive damage type and the damage cap
It might be neat if you were able to throw the rippers at a 90 degree angle. As it stands now, throwing them guarantees it will hit you if you don't move out of its rebound. Wouldn't make it any less outclassed, but would make it easier to use it for its tunnel-niche.
There is a trick to make the rippers more useful on Driller. If you dig a tunnel in the ground and throw the ripper on the ceiling of the tunnel, it will stay in place spinning through and on top of that tunnel.
I like drilling a little side window with a side tunnel right next to my bunker entrances to get a better Ripper angle if something big is trying to push past the focus fire A well placed Ripper on a dwarf-sized tunnel can be lethal and it saves so much ammo
I love that I found your channel JUST as I started playing both Elden Ring AND Deep Rock. Gonna be visiting your channel more often in my free time now.
I came back to recheck stats, and I have to say.. you're hands down the best at breaking down all things DRG. It's insane how organized and detailed your vids are. Thank you so much for it all man. As for the Ripper dilemma, idk if changing it to Kinetic dmg would help or not... But maybe adding 50% heat (w/o dmg loss, like Double Barrel) would make it interesting, as I'm sure those blades would be red hot from the friction. Would be a cool visual too lol It would be nice to have a throwable that could ignite Goo or combo with Ice
Well, that was exceptionally informative! Especially since I don't sink all my time into DRG like I used to - now only playing it once or twice a week - so picking up on little things naturally takes a lot longer. And even then, nothing's like a good ol' technical breakdown!
For the rippers: I think they could be much slower & larger, do more damage on impact, and terraform the ground as they go. Would be a neat addition to driller’s kit + could be useful for making stairways/walkable areas And if they’re TOO strong they could be made into a deployable like the turret. But instead of building, the engine would need to be started
the ripper's also kinda outclassed in the crowd department by c4, like it has a higher sustained damage potential for more spread out crowds but then it something your primary should be used for
where you show scout racing the ripper reminds me of moments in my life where I wonder if I'm living up to my potential (only I'd add the grape stomping lady as background for it)
Please make more DRG videos! You are hands down the best regarding weapon optimization I have seen on youtube. Have you ever considered doing a top 3 load-outs with each class? It would be great to target newer players trying to learn the game
I know this has been out awhile but it still may help in the next season, I've found the microwave cooker is REALLY good against blisters, considering its a secondary and relatively low damage normally. I always take it if I'm driller on a rock pox mission.
Only grenade from the new stuff that has become a "best in slot" for me personally is the boomerang, super versatile and the ammo count makes me feel like I can use it without being screwed in a ultra pinch situation. I still use the mine, gas, and flame nades for eng/drill/gunner. Also the bouncy/splash drak shots tear rockpox enemies to shreds, you can often ricochet a shot into the blisters on their backs by firing under or behind them.
That +48 damage instant per target is why they are so broken. I like to run them with my min-damage RJ250 and they are perfect at covering mid-low health enemies that are stunned, combined with the ignite dot finishing slashers/guards so keep killing small enemies with the shredders/turrets. The PGL is 1-1-1-3-2 for stun/ignite, 18 ammo and 4-blast size with minimal self-damage.
Leadbursters also wreck dreadnaughts, the hiveguard to a lesser extent unless you throw it behind the thing (this is most effective on a wall behind it, for some reason. But the ground works fine)
I use the boomerang with the trifork xbow mod to be able to instantly melt priority targets and it also helps with swarms and crawlers, your primary needs to cover a lot of ground when trifork is used (i usually bring armorbreak-penetration m1k) and boomerang helps with that
Stunning up to 9 bugs with sweepers is generally enough for you to make enough space to better position yourself against a swarm while having the flexibility to snipe high value bugs to make it easier to shoot them
I love the boomerang, even knowing the higher efficiency of scout alternatives, its just so fun and chill seeing it go, bopping enemy to stupor. I just take it all the time purely on fun factor!
The shredder grenade is my favourite now on engie because I build my engie to be general purpose. The provide a nice consistent damage bonus that works really well with a more mobile strategy that repeatedly recalls and redeploys your turrets.
I think since this vid the friendly damage with the saws have been nerfed but even still- YIKES, no wonder I saw my health drop a few times in a session a friend used it. Normally friendly fire isn't such a huge deal with my party, some use the friendly fire perk and some of us are confident enough to NOT shoot our allies a ton. But when these came out and a driller decides to take it it's like -wait, holy crap- OW.
I love the in depth explanation of everything, but for me the takeaways are: 1: Shredders are best used against swarms but do just fine against single targets 2: Stun Sweepers are pretty good vs Mactera when paired with AI stability engine 3: Leadbursters are a good choice on Mactera swarms and super effective vs bulk detonators. 4: Rippers are too niche to be of use. Driller still has effectively two grenades axes and neurotoxin. 5: AoE damage is generally ineffective vs rockpox and breach cutter is super effective.
I swear, the Ripper is just a secondary tool for team killing on Driller. Too many players use it on uneven terrains that and the rest of the team collectively serves as bowling pins.
19:03 The Rippers can also be slightly better for driller in caretaker fights. Simply put, driller has a hard time reaching the ceiling with his weapons for those damn sniper bots, but his rippers generally don't care about the things being on the ceiling. I've tried it on low hazard environments and they seem to do pretty well one shotting sniper bots, and since the caretaker room is freaking large, them coming back around for friendly fire isn't too big of a concern, seeing as everyone's scrambling to avoid everything already. Is it a pretty niche use and a bit expensive in doing so (you are trading away one out of your six saws to kill at best two bots)? Yeah. But I take use that thing over any of the other nades to feel just a little more useful than spamming my secondary at whatever I can find, and actually have fun doing so. Maybe Lazy can try to see if using the rippers in those situations beneficial? Either way, great video man.
The only downside with the boomerang is forgetting you can play fetch with yourself after you've cleared a swarm. What else am I supposed to do after I got all the cave minerals?
Bring back the Rivals. Sure, they also were not even remotely balanced, but at least you could deal damage to them with every weapon. Rockpox enemies are basically immortal against a Driller...
If the ripper proc’d vamp, it’d be a fantastic side grade to impact axes, sacrificing the ability to hit air enemies/having freedom to aim for sustained damage and higher swarm deletion potential
When season 3 dropped, my first impression on the Stun-Sweeper was rather negative. I felt it was inferior to other grenades in every way possible. Now mid/end season it's pretty much my go to choice. The selling point is its versatility. It's not the best one in every given situation, far from it, but it is always at least good when one of the other grenades would be bad. Having 8 charges and being fire and forget helps a lot as well, while fitting pretty much any playstyle/weapon comp you could bring as scout.
Great video as always, can you make a short tutorial on how to set and use the sandbox/test area you use I haven't been able to figure it out to save my life
Not really a fan of nerfing Driller's ability to drill through Rockpox. It already did quite a bit of buildup when you killed a Praetorian that way due to the fart cloud, and you likely were doing it because you were in the middle of foaming/vaccing and one spawned in your face (so you already had at least some buildup). So now you're punished for using the most ammo/time-efficient method for dealing with them, but Breach Cutter is just left untouched despite being kinda broken. I'm not mad about it, but more confused as it seems like they wanted to discourage what they saw as cheese and overlooked a much cheesier method.
I think the larva AoE is the 10 damage that's killing them as a self-destruct damage, rather than an attack that harms dwarves. Could also be bugged on that front too though, and might be intended as a dwarf-damaging AoE and just has incorrect damage priorities.
the springloaded rippers are so cool and fun to use, its just that they suck so bad :/ to be worth taking we'd have to get like twice the amount, then they might be worth considering
I think the Ripper needs to arm twice as fast, travel like 50% faster and deal "only" 35% friendly fire damage. Even the Engi's plasma bursters deal only 50% friendly fire, and they are still _wayy_ more predictable. Making their sound drop-off less would be great when they are rolling around the ceiling first before your ankles. edit: they also don't have high armor break which is very bad, should be like 500% armor break.
19:18 It would be nice if they changed the damage type and further reduced friendly fire damage, for starters. A couple neat features I thought of would be if they broke on contact with heavily armored enemies (i.e praetorians, adult shellbacks, oppressors and Dreadnaughts) but did even more damage, along with a slowdown or bleed DoT effect of some kind on normal hits, due to being hit with a runaway tablesaw blade and all.
Personally I find wirh Driller sludge pump corrosive damage I have zero issues soloing massive targets and find the ripper extremely useful for instantly killing a whole stream of goons coming towards me when im getting a bit overwhelmed. Its the ultimate "get the fuck off me" and way better than drillers other grenades at that. I find the axe damage pretty underwhelming a lot of the time as a single hit grenade
19:45 I may be misremembering, but I'm 90% sure that I had a rockpox swarm where mission control called it out with voicelines and everything on a non outbreak mining mission.
Would you consider making a video breaking down the stats of the other grenades? That would be really interesting If you’ve already done that and I missed it, oops.
Personally, I feel Rippers would be made FAAAR better if they were guided. If they hit a bug, they turn to re-target a different bug. I don't know if it's worth implementing an angle limit for targeting additional bugs, but that shouldn't be TOO complicated to do. As it stands, the Rippers are just a toy which often does more harm than good.
